We know that there are now specific rules about depositions in New York, and we are familiar with the "barking dog" deposition case here too.  New Jersey has its own story:

"Rough spots are common on the road of civil litigation, but it’s not every day that a plaintiffs attorney sues his adversary for asking "inhumane" questions during a deposition that allegedly inflict "grievous emotional distress."

That’s the thrust of a suit filed July 11 in Essex County, N.J., in which Bruce Nagel claims Judith Wahrenberger, his adversary in a medical malpractice case, acted tortiously by asking a husband whether he felt his wife had played a role in the death of their infant daughter by handling the child roughly.

"Wahrenberger’s unsupported and intentional attack upon the parents was beyond any acceptable behavior of a civilized human being," alleges Nagel, of Nagel Rice in Roseland, N.J.

Wahrenberger, the attorney for an emergency room physician at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J., says she had an obligation to pursue the line of questioning because an autopsy showed the baby had a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage, which can be a sign of shaken-baby syndrome.

"I would not be doing my job if I didn’t explore these areas," says Wahrenberger, of Springfield, N.J.’s Wahrenberger, Pietro & Sherman. "We were talking about negligent homicide. As heartless as he says I was, the last thing I would be is cruel."

The underlying medical malpractice complaint was filed on Jan. 17, six months after the child died. The parents, Andrew and Phyllis Rabinowitz, alleged they tried to get their 6-day-old daughter admitted to St. Barnabas for breathing problems but were told by emergency room physician Lynn Reyman that the infant had only a common cold. The baby died two days later in her father’s arms, blood running out of her nose, as he tried to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. "